Blood, Rain and The Music Box
by Batty Angel
Summary: one shot dark fic, NaruGaru. Gaara is just a child who finds himself alone in the rain with only a music box. But what happens when a Blond haired boy finds him? 'Is he an Angel'


A small boy sat alone on the swing in the dead of night, as the rain poured down. Strands of red hair became flattened by the harsh rain.

The child did not seem to notice the weather, as his small pale hands clutched onto the small wooden music box that was still playing the same tune over and over again in a soothing loop. When the music suddenly stopped, the delicate fingers would trace over the wooden carvings of the box til it reached underneath - where the golden key would be twisted until it could no longer be twisted anymore. Once he let go, the angelic music would play yet again.

The boy, named Gaara, returned to starring at the floor in front of him. He watched every rain drop hit the ground and create a never ending pattern of ripples blending in with other smaller ripples. The sound and the smell gave Gaara all the comfort he desperately needed right now. He didn't care about how cold he felt or that the clothes he wore were now completely soaked, he just wanted the rain to wash the blood away from his skin.

He didn't want to remember what happened at that house. He did not want to remember the look in his uncles eyes or his reflection in the mirror that showed the small child the wound on his forehead.

Shakily, Gaara raised his hand to touch the cuts on his forehead. Although he felt the pain sting for a moment, he did not wince. Pulling his hand away, pale green eyes stared at the stained fingers that were now being cleansed by the falling droplets from the sky.

The boy thought about his father. The man who openly blamed his son for his mothers death, encouraging the hate within Gaara's older brother and sister. He could remember one time he tried to reach out to his older brother, Kankuro, because he had a nightmare that night... only to have the door slammed on his face. His sister Temari just ignored him. But whenever their eyes met, he could see all the hurt and anger towards him... it was too painful.

Gaara thought about the night his father told him that they didn't want him anymore. The older man had pulled roughly on his son's arm, ignoring the small cry from the red head, and shoved him out side the door with a bag all ready and packed to go. He never had a chance to see his brother and sister one more time.

He had waited outside the house, sitting on the grey stone steps of the front door until his Uncle came to pick him up.

"...Yashamaru..."

Gaara's chest felt like it was clenching painfully, his grip on the wooden box tightened.

Yashamaru was his whole world, his savior... his first love.

Yashamaru was the first person to explain what love was and told Gaara how much his mother loved him. The music box given to him was once belonged to his mother. Yashamaru said that the song played from that box was his mothers way of being there for Gaara. Sometimes Gaara pretended that the music was a lullaby sung by his mother, so whenever Gaara felt scared of the monster in his dreams - he could listen to the music and imagine his mother being besides him...

But he had preferred being by Yashamarus side.

'_Not anymore...'_

The tears mixed in with the rain as the little boy cried without a sound, listening to the same tune being repeated over and over again.

He didn't know how it all went wrong. Before tonight, Yashamaru had been kind and caring towards his nephew. He had helped Gaara to smile and gave the boy an emotion that filled his entire body with warmth.

Gaara wished that could have lasted forever...

'_Even if it was a lie?'_

The silence of the child was broken by a sudden sob that escaped past Gaara's lips, remembering what had happened.

The red head was in his room reading a book of poems before his uncle came into the room. Gaara had noticed the blank face that Yashamaru wore and asked what was wrong. He answer. Instead, his uncle walked closer towards the small boy. Green eyes caught the glint of silver in his uncle's hand, recognizing it as a knife. Without warning, Gaara was knocked down onto his back and was unable to get up once his uncle straddled the boy. The cold eyes stared deeply into Gaara's, the image burning into the red head's soul.

"Tell me Gaara... do you know what day it is?"

Gaara's fear kept him silent. He was afraid and confused by his uncles actions, wanting to know if he had done something wrong to upset him.

"It's your birthday today..."

Gaara blinked. His birthday was never celebrated. If anything, everyone in his family avoided him whenever this day came by...

'_Even Yashamaru...'_

...Gaara knew why they did it.

"...it's also the day your mother died. My sister... my beloved sister..."

Gaara felt the tears build up in the corner of his eyes. It felt as if Yashamaru had stabbed the boy in the heart with those words, spoken in a cold stoic voice.

"Gaara... you asked about love, right?"

Gaara gave a small nod, not knowing what to say.

"And I said... I loved you, right?"

Gaara yelped as he felt the stinging sensation on his forehead, feeling warm liquid roll down the side of his head. He tried to move his arms, left hand still clutching onto the book of poetry, but was unable to do so since his arms were currently trapped under his uncles knees.

He pleaded his uncle to stop whatever he was doing, screaming and crying. But no matter how much pain the boy expressed through those green eyes, Yashamarus face remained stone cold.

Eventually, the hand with the knife moved away from Gaara's face. However, the other hand rested on his nephew's forehead - the thumb brushing the wound he had just created, making Gaara wince at the pain.

"Love... I loved her so much you know. So much that I was reluctant for her to get married to your father..."

Gaara's forehead ceased, feeling more confused than afraid about the current situation.

"...but we were still able to see each other. I was thankful for that much. I loved her so much... then you were born."

The sound of the knife being dropped echoed in the room. Yashamaru shifted his legs so that Gaaras arms were free to move around. But Gaara could not move. The tone of the last words spoken from his uncle's mouth, froze Gaara's heart. His eyes widen when he saw a familiar look in his uncle's eyes.

Hate.

Gaara's mind was in a panic. One part of himself told him to run away, another part was screaming inside his head - wanting to know why his uncle would do this, and another part of himself with a colder and crueler voice was mocking the child, telling Gaara how foolish he was to believe anyone would love him... a murderer.

'_Monster...'_

He had heard his sister murmur that once when passing by through the hall way. It had made Gaara want to cry there on the spot as his sister walked away to her room.

Looking at those hate filled eyes starring at him right at that moment, it felt as if those eyes were calling Gaara a monster.

The red head could feel the cracks in his heart beginning to grow and cut deeper than ever.

"I lost her... and all that was gained was the burden of your existence."

Yashamaru moved in closer to Gaara, who tried to shift backwards but realized his uncle was still sitting on his legs.

"Your father didn't try to love you. Nor did your brother and sister... I did. I tried and yet..."

Gaara felt his uncle's hands clasp around his throat, those eyes never once breaking contact with Gaara's own.

"It was all for nothing."

Gaara tugged on his uncle's tightening hands with one of his own, whilst the other hand gripped onto the spine of the book.

"I can't love you... just as my sister couldn't love you. She can't have loved you, you took her away from me!"

His uncle's voice raised as his body started to shake.

"I hate you."

"No..." Gaara murmured that single word, finding it harder to breathe and to believe the words that were tearing apart his soul. The child could feel his heart being cracked like glass, shards falling to pieces and stinging inside his chest.

"I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.."

The words were repeated like a mantra, as he squeezed tighter around the pale neck.

Gaara snapped into realization that he was going to die if he didn't do anything. Without a thought, Gaara slammed the book on the side of his uncle's face, causing Yashamaru to lose his grip as he fell onto his side. This allowed Gaara to roll away from his uncle, coughing as he tried to breath in oxygen - eyes squeezed shut.

Those eyes were soon to be opened and staring widely a Yashamaru who got up and stood completely still. The strands of blonde hair obscuring his face, giving a sickly uneasiness twisting around in the child's stomach.

"I'll kill you."

The words were whispered but felt like sirens to Gaara's ears. He saw that his uncle was taking a dive towards the small boy. Within a matter of seconds, Gaara was caught in the grip of fear as the thoughts 'I don't want to die' ran through his mind. The red head reached out for the knife and swung the sharp metal as a form of defense, his eyes shut.

He felt the splatter of familiar warm liquid hit him, which was then followed by a loud thump.

Slowly, green eyes were allowed to open and become exposed to the horrors of the room. Blood stained his white t-shirt and pale skin, making them stand out more than his own hair colour. The knife slide out of Gaara's hand and landed right next to the face of his uncle.

Even the six year old could see that even with eyes wide open, Yashamaru was now dead.

The knife had cut deeply into the neck, slicing almost into the bone. It was almost as if his uncle was beheaded, but was much worse. For Gaara, he felt like he was being strangled again when he felt the growing poor of blood reach to Gaara's bare feet. It surrounded him like an ocean of blood that seem to crawl up Gaara's legs as he noticed the ends of his long jeans soak up the blood, the stain growing like a blossoming flower.

That was when Gaara noticed his hands.

Although he knew that he was covered and surrounded by blood, to see the substance on his hands brought on a stronger emotion than before. Everything welled up inside the breaking glass heart, being filled with the memories of his family and the recent words of his uncle.

That was when he felt like he had shattered.

His heart broke the moment he landed on his knees and into the blooded puddle, and screamed as loudly as he could.

The tears and the blood mixed. Gaara felt his fingers tug on his own hair, continuing to scream and scream until his throat was raw.

When he could no longer scream, he cried.

And when he could no longer cry, he sat in silence.

No one would ever come for him.

He was alone with the blood and the dead body next to him. He felt himself shaking as he listened to the echo of voices that ran through his head. His sister, brother, father and uncle. Their words blended together and were loud in the child's mind, however he could feel the same emotion stab him over and over again inside his already broken heart.

He needed to get out of the room.

He stood up too quickly and slipped backwards into the now cold blood. Gaara couldn't stand it anymore. The sticky liquid, the voices in his head, the tears threatening to spill over his already aching eyes. He needed to leave.

This time Gaara stood up slowly and made his way out. Just before opening the door to his bedroom, he saw the music box innocently sitting on the low shelf by the door. He quickly picked it up and opened the door.

He rushed down the stairs and rushed by the mirror in the hallway, seeing the wound on his head - the carved in word for love. Seeing that made Gaara run out the door faster. Opening the front door he leaped out of the house and into the downpour of rain, not even taking the time to put shoes on.

And that is how Gaara came to be here on the swings.

He stopped running when he felt tired and numb, heading towards the swings nearby. The voices had quieted down, but were still whispering from the corners of his mind. He needed to drive them away. He twisted the key as quickly as he could, arms shaking from the cold and from the shock of this night. The soothing music played out sweetly, calming the red head down and providing him with a little bit of comfort.

That was two hours ago.

The rain had not lightened, but Gaara had started to feel tired. However, he did not want to sleep. He felt that this would be the perfect moment for the nightmares to come. He won't have anyone to run to anymore. He knew that if he woke from his nightmares, he would be alone again.

'_I don't want to be alone. I don't want these memories. I don't want the blood on me anymore...'_

Gaara bent forwards to hug the music box close to his chest, the rain hitting him hard on his drenched back.

'_I don't want to be alone...'_

"Someone..." The words whispered softly as the sounds of the rain continued to mix in with the music.

"...please... save me."

The tears came back again as the wave of loneliness came down upon him yet again. He knew no one would come for him, even if he did call out again.

But that didn't mean he did not want to call out, even if it was meaningless.

"What are you doing out here!? You crazy or something?"

Gaara snapped up, surprised and scared of the sudden loud voice. Looking up the first thing he saw was a beautiful pair of blue eyes. They were so bright like the sky even at this time of night. It was like looking through a window and into another world of warmth and sun. Seeing this made Gaara want to cry harder, knowing that warmth would be something out of his reach forever more.

'_Is he... an angel?'_

"H-hey, you okay? Are you bleeding or something..." The loud voice toned down a bit, concern showing through those wonderful eyes as the words started to trail off.

Gaara realized that the rain was no longer hitting him, noticing the orange umbrella that sheltered the pair. He began to observe the boy in front of him. They looked as if they were the same age. The blue eyed boy had blonde haired and tanned skin, wearing a bright orange pajamas and a pair of blue boots that seemed too big for the boy. Green eyes traveled back up to the face, glancing over the parallel line scarred on both cheeks - which reminded Gaara of a fox he saw once in a story.

"What's your name?"

Gaara didn't know what to do. Should he runaway? Should he tell the boy to go away? Or...

"Gaara." The words escaped before Gaara even had a chance to stop himself.

The blonde smiled slightly at finally getting a response. Gaara blushed, feeling the spark of warmth again which made his stomach twist around inside.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki... why are you out in the rain?"

Gaara did not answer, which made the blonde aggravated due to being ignored. Naruto reached out for the cold hand, making Gaara jump and almost pull away...

Almost.

"The Hell!? Your hands are freezing!"

"...Your hands are warm..."

Gaara hated the pain that spiked up in his chest again. The warmth was tormenting the red head, as if to say 'you'll never have me.' These feelings were hurting worse than ever, making Gaara feel more scared and confused.

"We gotta get you inside right now!"

Naruto tugged at Gaara's hand, which caused the green eyed boy to respond by pulling away from the blond, arms hugging the box even closer to himself.

"No!"

"What's wrong with you?! You're going to get sick- look! You're already shaking..."

But Gaara was not shaking from the cold, he was shaking in fear. He didn't want to get hurt again, to be hated by people again... what if this boy found out? What if he hurt him? What if this is all just a cruel joke? Theses thoughts alone made Gaara want to throw up. He couldn't deal with it anymore. He squatted down, still clutching on to the music box which had stopped playing awhile ago.

"I don't want to be hurt anymore!"

Both boys were surprised at the sudden outburst, Gaara even more so. The pale boy had never shouted out his thoughts in front of anyone, he had learnt to keep it to himself.

Though now that he had started, he couldn't stop himself.

"I don't want this pain anymore! I don't want to hurt anyone and I don't want anyone to hurt me. I don't want to be the monster anymore and I don't want to be the reason why everyone's sad! I don't want to be loved if it only means that- that I'm going to get hurt!... I don't want the voices or the scary dreams! I want it to stop hurting... I don't want to be alone..."

Gaara felt the rain and warm protective arms embrace him. The music box was dropped as Gaara held on to the orange clothed boy like a life line. Before Gaara was afraid of this stranger's touch, but now he needed it. He needed it more than the necessity of oxygen, because without it - it had already felt like he was drowning.

"I know what you mean..."

Gaara squeezed tighter as he absorbed the boy's warmth and words...

'_This is the last chance... I'll risk it all for this.'_

"To be alone... to be called a monster... to be hated. I know how that feels..."

"But... I'm a bad person."

Gaara didn't want to tell Naruto what he had done, afraid of losing this one chance of being close to a person. Despite what Gaara said, the blonde whispered his warm breath on the red head's ear.

"No you're not... you're too beautiful to be a bad person."

Gaara blushed, not understanding why Naruto had chosen to say that. However, Gaara accepted it and stood up with Naruto. He felt their hands join together as Naruto started to lead them, only to stop a second later. Gaara wondered for a moment if Naruto had decided to change his mind.

"Oops. Nearly forgot these..."

Naruto turned to pick up the umbrella and the music box. Naruto handed the box over to Gaara, smiling sadly.

"It plays really nice music..."

"...Thank you."

"That's what lead me to you. I woke up hearing this music and I looked out my window."

Naruto pointed towards the small house they were heading towards.

"That's how I found you."

Naruto's smile grew wide, making Gaara feel as if he was standing next to the brightness of the sun. and it was beautiful.

"Why... why did you come out for me? You did't have to..."

Naruto stopped and stared at a spot in front of him, looking lost in his own thoughts for a moment. Gaara felt their hands squeezed for a moment before the blonde spoke up again.

"I use to sit there... when I had no where to go... It felt really lonely."

Blue eyes met with green yet again, a sad smile spreading upon the tanned face.

"I didn't want you to feel lonely either..."

"Oh..."

Gaara's blush grew deeper as Naruto started walking again, speaking in a more cheerful tone.

"I live here with my guardian Iruka. He was my sensei before, but he adopted me."

Gaara felt fear strike yet again, thinking about all the bad possibilities of Naruto's guardian. Such thoughts were stopped when Naruto squeezed his hand again.

"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei is a good guy... he can lose his temper real badly some times, but still a good guy. Trust me!"

Gaara wasn't sure if it was the smile, the warm hand or the sky blue eyes that made Gaara believe the boy. Whatever it was, it gave Gaara enough confidence to place his trust in Naruto.

"Okay... I trust you."

And so Gaara followed the boy into the warm home...

And to this day he hasn't looked back or regretted following his blond salvation.

--

Whoa, this is probably the darkest fic I have ever written (then again I did write it when I was in a depressed mood... ahahaha :P) I did consider doing a 10 years later-thing at the end, but I was a bit stuck on what to write.

I was inspired by Rurutia - Ryuukou (music box version), thus gave birth to this lil creation :D Also, this is my contribution to the Gaara x Naruto Spam-day! WOO!

Please review! It makes me a happy camper!


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